Dai Ancient Town
Dai County was called Dai County in ancient times. It belonged to Jin Sate in Spring and Autumn period; it was called Guangwu Yi in the Warring States period; it was called Guangwu County in the Western Han Dynasty; it was called Yanmen Jun in the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Jin Dynasties and it was Zhisuo of Dai Zhou; in the Yuan Dynasty, Yanmen County was abolished and became a part of Dai Zhou; it was renamed Di County in 1912.
The terrain of Dai County is very strategic, sloping from the northeast to the southwest. The southnorth is hill area and the middle is plain. The south hilly area belongs to Wutai Mountain Range; the north belongs to Hengshan Mountain System; Yanmen Pass is located here; Dai County is with the Plateau north of the Great Wall on its north and with Xinding Basin on its south. It is very famous for its magnificence and strategic location.
You can see many historical relics, such as, Jingxin New Stone Age site in the east, the remains of the Great Wall of China in the Han Dynasty, the sites of castles, the site of Zhaohu City in the Sui Dynasty, the sites of 39 castles and 12 connected cities in the Ming Dynasty, etc. Yanmen Pass here commands GouZhu Mountain, connects the Great Wall of China, and lists the leading place of nine strongholds; Bianjin Pavilion in Dai County frightens three passes; Wen Temple is large-scaled, famous in Three Jin (Shanxi Province); the ancestral hall of Yangzhongwu has a great influence abroad; impending structured Zhaogao Temple was built along the path in the canyon; the pagoda of Ayu King is tall and straight. Besides, there are some other sites of ancient architectures, such as, Bairenyan Temple, Bolin Temple, Phoenix Temple , Taining Palace, etc. There are also some old graves, such as, the tomb of Jin King-Likeyong, the tomb of his godson-Licun, the tomb of Shilang-Tengmaoshi in the Song Dynasty, the tomb of Sangshi-Zhangfengyi in the Ming Dynasty, the tomb of Sunchuanting, etc. Dai County is also a famous trade center in the north and there were 131 different stores here at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is recorded that ancestral temples and streets spread all over Dai County and rare jewels and precious stones were very beautiful. Now there are over 4,000 precious treasures, such as, gold objects, stone objects, and potteries.
The historical relics are very special, merging the characteristics of Han and minorities. There are abundant catering culture, exquisite architectural culture and red-carpet folk custom culture. Paper cutting, facial sculpture, embroidery and carving here are much admired; wrestling, dancing, rowing flowery boats here has their own charms. Folk music concert is agitated and loud, the singing wreathing in the hall for a long time.
